Everyone Loves Ice Cream

Vancouver

2012-01-27T10:18:00.001-08:00

Yeah, I know what I said about having seen enough of the Vancouver aquarium, but we went yesterday and I loved it all over again!

The sun was out and it was gorgeous but with the added bonus of a punishing ocean wind that blew us straight to the front door of the aquarium.

Today we visited the MOV's exhibit of neon signs from the 50s, 60s and 70s followed by lunch on Granville Island.

Guangzhou

2011-07-24T00:30:00.000-07:00

Made it smoothly to Guangzhou, where everything promptly fell apart. Well, not really, but I broke my sunglasses and my luggage missed the connection in Hong Kong. Apparently it will be delivered to my hotel tonight, though the concierge laughed a little and told me it could also very easily be tomorrow.

In the meantime I'd like to take a moment to individually celebrate some of the items in my carryon bag.

1) toothbrush/paste(Yay!)
2) deodorant(Yay!)
3) plug converter(Yay!)
4) clean underwear(OMG YAY!)
5) Imitrex (Yay!)
6) Makeup (Yay!)

Conversation I had with the woman at lost luggage:

W: Your bag wll arrive on the next flight tonight (in a tone that implied: "and now I am done with you")
Me: ... Will you deliver it to my hotel?
W: Yes. (in a tone that implied: "and now I am done with you")
Me: ... Do you need the hotel information?
W: Yes. (handing me a pen)

Had a nice lunch with some co-workers and I have a pedicure in an hour (my first ever!). So things are looking up.

Madrid

2010-06-01T09:29:00.000-07:00

Cordoba is linked to Madrid via high speed train, which we purchased tickets on, through a big stroke of luck, using broken Spanish at the train station.

The speed was shown on a monitor at the front of our car and the fastest we noticed was 270km/hr, which is pretty impressive. We crossed our longest distance of the four-city stop in the shortest amount of time: just under 2 hrs.

Our Madrid hotel is spacious and has a kitchen with a fridge, sink and range...but no pots, pans, silverware, coffeemaker, plates...nothing. You have to request them from the front desk but they are clear that they are not responsible for washing them but also won't provide soap and sponges unless you fork over a fee. Strangest kitchen policy I've ever encountered. For two days we've attempted the least messy breakfast we can think of: soft boiled eggs with cheese and wee toasts. We had to make egg cups from wads of toilet paper. I have decided not to share photos. This morning I wandered down the street to the nearest Churreria so we could see what this early-morning Churros phenomenon is all about. Verdict: Salt and Fat. Nothing wrong with that.

Continuing on the subject of food: We've pretty much experienced the wonderful world of tapas and feeling a bit exhausted, have glommed on to this Mexican restaurant down the street. I am almost perplexed by how much like a hug this place felt like.

Our first full day we visited the Palacio Real de Madrid. You might think that after the palaces in Sevilla and Granada we would have had enough of royal residences, but this was unlike either of the others, and quite lovely. Photos weren't allowed and the ones I snuck weren't fun enough to post, but here is one of us in front of a random statue that means nothing to us, but it is where the couple who asked us to take their photo wanted to stand, so this is where we stood when they returned the favor. This is the only photo of us together in Spain.

This morning we took the metro to the Parque del Retiro while it was still relatively cool (another 90 degree day).

Afterwards we visited the Prado Museum, which was very nice.
We had a nice Indian meal and will now power nap in anticipation of staying up all night in anticipation of sleeping on our (separate) flights home.
It's been a vacation of the crazy and tiring variety, and we've loved every minute.

Cordoba day 2

2010-05-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

Still wholly unsuccessful at locating some kind of breakfast in Spain that does not consist of bread, toasted bread or sweet bread. Today we had toasted bread with some kind of meat spread which, to the horror of a person in posession of a long-expired foodhandler's card (me), was served right out of the container at our table.

We stopped by the grocery store for apples to eat on the way to the Mezquita (mosque)/Catedral de Cordoba that makes the city famous. It was built, conquered and re-conquered, resulting in a large array of architectural styles all under one roof.

After, we went to a restaurant we'd seen yesterday where the lady who stands outside to try to make people come in was really nice to us and the menu had photos, which is a huge plus when you really want more than meat paste on toast. As it turns out they also have a gorgeous patio. And the food was delicious!

The soup is Gazpacho, which I had no idea could be anything but a glorified version of Pico de Gallo. This was like a salty cream of almond - it was delicious! The garnish was chopped apples and currants.

On the way home we had to flatten ourselves against the wall as you do in the narrow windy streets of Cordoba when you don't want to get brained by the mirrors on the sides of buses.

Finally timing our meals correctly, we're in the second half of our siesta back at the hotel room. Tomorrow morning we take the high speed train to Madrid, the last stop on our high speed tour of Spain.

Cordoba

2010-05-28T13:39:00.000-07:00

We were treated to vast olive groves and whitewashed towns on our bus ride from Granada to Cordoba today.

We stopped at the train station across the street from the bus station to buy tickets on the AVE (high speed train) to Madrid on Sunday.

Our hotel is right across the street from what appears to be a nightclub (one word on the sign outside: GLAM) so we are a little scared of what the evening holds, sleep-wise.

Once again, we got hungry at 4pm, just as all the restaurants closed. Luckily we caught the grocery store before closing and had a little tapa party in the hotel room (for 9 euro total!) with tuna pate, aged cheese, salami and wee toasts with oranges for dessert.

There is a fair going on the entire month of May to celebrate the weather (apparently after this month it gets ridiculously hot). We headed down to check it out. It was basically a makeshift town full of bars. Each had their own different music turned up to eleven and was full of swirling dancing people of all ages. It seems like this fair is enjoyed by every single person in Cordoba.

We had just enough time to check out the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos before it closed. It was a bit rushed but on the other hand so nice to explore with next to no other people around.

Afterwards, exhausted by hours of walking in the sun, we collapsed at a table at the first restaurant we saw and had some lovely tapas.

Tomorrow we explore the great Mezquita (mosque) which is now apparently a Cathedral.

Granada

2010-05-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

Here are some things Granada has a lot of:
Dogs
Graffiti
Swifts
Bohemians
MC Hammer pants

The city is much larger than I expected. There is a lot of this:

But there is also a busy downtown area with all the modern urban shops you would expect.

But then there are groups of dreadlocked pot smoking hippie types playing spontaneous music in the park.

Granada is really interesting.

I kind of wish we had one more day here.

We spent the morning at the Alhambra, which was of course, stunning.

After a nap and some food, we wandered around town some more. Tomorrow we are on a bus to Cordoba

Sevilla

2010-05-27T10:20:00.001-07:00

Sevilla was the first stop on our "Best of Southern Spain" whirlwind tour. The two top sights are the Cathedral and the Real Alcazar, both of which were completely breathtaking. It was no surprse that the city is crawling with tourists of all nationalities. We were mistaken for German more than once. This could possibly be related to the fact that I've spent so much time in Germany lately that I can't stop speaking my small arsenal of niceties in German rather than Spanish, which I've spent months trying to break myself of the habit of speaking while in Germany.

We managed to continually be hungry at the wrong times, wandering around in ever-widening circles to find restaurant after restaurant closed for this strange nightly dead time between four and eight or so. But you can pretty much always get ice cream, which is great since the weather was in the 80s and you know...ice cream!

Dag found a terrific hotel right in the heart of everything with a kitchen so we could cook breakfast.

It was only a couple of blocks away from the tram station that took us to the bus stop on Wednesday morning as we headed for Granada.

Home at last

2010-03-17T00:51:00.000-07:00

Dreaded middle seat
Food poisoning; up again
Sorry, nice lady

Speedy cab ride home
Pajamas; kitty mauling
Nausea passing

Catchup

2010-03-16T09:15:00.000-07:00

Internet has been down for a couple of days. Here is what's been happening:

Hot and lazy day
Panades and manatees
Ice cream for dessert

Breakfast time drama
Profane threats angry tirade
All about some bikes

Power and water
You can't take them for granted
It's stinky and dark

Boom creek canoe ride
New game: log or crocodile?
Birds fly overhead

Spiders in branches
Can't steer canoe from their path
Heebie jeebie dance

Town water pump broke
Refreshing baby wipe bath
Good time to go home

I love panades
A corn patty stole my heart
Come here, tasty love

No water this week
Chalkboard fish is out of words
What about my eggs?

It's been a while since
"One More Night" has floated through
Our open window

Conserving water
Dag rinsed my head with a cup
Clean hair at long last

Cockscomb basin wildlife sanctuary

2010-03-13T17:54:00.000-08:00

Dusty jungle trail
Lizard dismembers spider
Tasty hairy snack

Inner tube: Let's go!
Get out when you reach the rope
Where the $&#%'s the rope?!

Upside down beetle
Dag flips him; he's on his way
I love Dag for this

84 degree night

2010-03-12T19:52:00.000-08:00

I know I complain
Always of Portland cold but
This sheet is too hot

Friday

2010-03-12T12:10:00.000-08:00

Manatee watching
Entertaining us for hours
Sunburn on my scalp

"Come down to the pub!"
There we saw every whitey
In Hopkins Village

Morning

2010-03-12T06:47:00.000-08:00

The biggest challenge
I am faced with every day
Speaking my first words

I hide in the room
While dag is outside chatting
Making up haiku

My little helpers
Coffee and milk in the room
Promise of breakfast

Ever so slowly
My personality creeps
Back into my heart

2010-03-11T13:35:00.000-08:00

Lizard eating grass
clothes drying out in the sun
I think it's naptime

This is what it's like

2010-03-10T08:34:00.001-08:00

Welcome to Belize
Butterflies and frigate birds
Breakfast in the sun

Hopkins village morn
Phil Collins song Island style
Swimming in the sea

Sent from my ipod

Belize

2010-03-09T19:32:00.000-08:00

We've arrived safe & sound in Hopkins Village, Belize. There was a
moment (a couple of hours worth) of self-flogging panic where we were
convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that we were going to miss our
5pm flight out of Belize city. Then somehow we were flying out on the
earlier flight and so were our bags. I love this country already!

Sent from my ipod

Last day

2009-11-19T21:08:00.001-08:00

Last full day in Maui. We drove around until we found a good looking snorkeling location off a public beach. There were plenty of fish and visibility was pretty OK. I got lots of sand in my suit and we almost lost one of the masks. There is a reason the guys in boats can charge so much to take you out to the best spots, defog your masks and feed you pineapple. Later we had lunch at a restaurant on the beach and then found a beach park to sit and read the afternoon away.

We got some poke at the store, which I'm becoming heavily addicted to, and some macaroni salad from Mixed Plate to go. In a minute we're going for a walk either ON or TO the beach, I'm not sure which.

Rainbows, getcher Rainbows!

2009-11-19T20:59:00.001-08:00

This place is LOUSY with rainbows!

OMGTURTLES!!1!

2009-11-18T17:40:00.000-08:00

Today we got up at the ungodly hour of 5:30am, drove to Kihei and snorkeled the Molokini Crater. The site was so much better than what we saw on Monday. Visibility was perfect and there were so many fish!

Dag's eagle eye spotted an eel and we were able to witness it getting squirted by an escaping octopus! Well, we never saw the octopus so either that means the ink thing worked and he got away or the eel had a snack.

And then at the next site we saw...heck to the yeah!...Toitles!

It was a perfect snorkeling day!

On the way to Iao National Park, we saw a giant thing flying through the air in front of the car which we at first thought was a turkey but turned out to be a peacock! I did not know they could fly and I'm here to say they can...barely.

Iao National park was gorgeous and a totally different climate zone...all cool and breezy.

Relaaaaaaaax...don't do...anything

2009-11-17T20:19:00.001-08:00

Today we succeeded in doing a whole lot of nothing at all. It was marvelous.

Part of our lunch was a big plate of fruit which included Dragonfruit. Have you ever had this? The inside is like a giant violet kiwi and the outside is like a swollen rhubarb with fins.

Tonight we are making nachos, as it is Tuesday, our normal night to go to the Redrum. Last night we had some nachos at this Mexican restaurant near our hotel where the lady actually spoke Spanish to us without really caring whether that worked for us or not. Fortunately between the two of us we know enough that we were able to complete the transaction. Unfortunately their version of nachos is like what you would get at 7-11 only it cost $9. So tonight we make it all better under the broiler with some real cheese and black beans and pico de gallo!

Tomorrow, fingers crossed for turtles!

Snorkeling Lanai

2009-11-16T19:21:00.000-08:00

Today we had a snorkeling experience that I would have to describe, partly at least, as harrowing. We rode a pontoon boat out from Lahaina to Lanai on some pretty rough waters which seemed to take about forever. We weren't able to do the first location that was supposed to be just lousy with turtles (my favorite marine animal to see underwater), due to visibility. But I would say that turned out to be a good thing because on our way to the next spot, we saw a pod of 300 dolphins pass us by. Oh my GOD dolphins are cool! They were on the move so didn't really stop to chat, but since there were THREE HUNDRED of them we got quite an eyeful of dolphin this day.

The two sites we saw were pretty lackluster and one of them had such strong currents I was literally swimming in place, which doesn't allow for much exploration. The visibility was great and I did see a couple of species of fish that I've never seen before, but there just wasn't much there. I don't know. Maybe we've been spoiled by Cozumel and maybe we went to the Galapagos Islands when we were just a little too young. I hate to be like that because every underwater life is magic, really! But I guess we just had to work too hard to get there and the payoff didn't seem quite...enough. Well, here's the best thing I saw at our snorkel sites today. Not bad at all! :)

Wanna go to Hana?

2009-11-16T18:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we made the drive out to Hana. We took the local advice and stopped along the way to see things of beauty since, as in life, it's all about the journey. No offense, Hana.

The Highlight for me was the Garden of Eden, a lovely botanical garden showcasing both local and imported beauties.

These peacocks were very "friendly" (hungry)

Rainbow Eucalyptus from the Philippines

Giant 150 year old Mango tree. Dag's tree should look exactly like this in another 146 years.

Beautiful Butterfly

Black sand beach at Wai'anapanapa state park (by this time we were a little too tired to enjoy much and had another 3hr ride back to look forward to, which somehow made the tired...more.

Then, back on the windy, narrow road full of one-lane bridges and blind corners and signs declaring that falling rocks...strange...I've never really enjoyed it.

And on the way home we were treated to an unbelievable rainbow. By the time I got my camera out, it had decreased by half in majesty so please multiply by 2 in your brain when you look at this photo

Exploring

2009-11-15T09:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we made friends with the neighbors

Then we drove down to Lahaina and made arrangements for a snorkeling trip for Monday to Lanai and to Kihei for another on Wednesday to Molokini & Turtle Town. We had a fantastic fish/chips in Kihei made from freshly caught Hebi.

The ice cream here is great! Chocolate with Macadamia nut!

Later we read books on the beach

Today we're taking a drive towards Hana. We're getting a late start so we'll just enjoy what we can on the way and not worry about whether we make it to Lindburgh's grave.

Maui

2009-11-13T23:02:00.000-08:00

We are in Maui and all is well. It's 80 degrees during the day and even after dark I'm typing this on our balcony in a tank top and bare feet. (pants too, yes)
It is my goal during the early part of the trip to accomplish absolutely nothing and so far that's going rather well. I haven't yet unpacked my bag, but I have taken a nap on the couch. I'd type more, but that would require ambition and energy. Maybe tomorrow.

Bali Postponed

2009-10-02T16:52:00.000-07:00

For those that may have seen my earlier posts but don't already know: We've had to cancel the trip for now. We may be taking another trip in November and are going to Provincetown, MA in December so watch this space!